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USDA Recognizes Manufacturers who are Making a Difference in Rural America


Published:
March 8, 2012
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack addresses Honorees as Business and Cooperative Programs Administrator Judith Canales looks on.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack addresses Honorees as Business and Cooperative Programs Administrator Judith Canales looks on.

Last month the White House and the USDA hosted the “Recognition of Manufacturing Success in Rural America” event at the White House Eisenhower Executive Office building in Washington, DC.  The ceremony recognized 46 rural manufacturing companies that have made outstanding contributions to the economy and job sustainability in their communities.

Featured speakers at the rural manufacturing celebration were Alan Krueger, Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, Jason Miller, Special Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy, and Doug McKalip, Senior Policy Advisor for Rural Affairs at the White House Domestic Policy Council.  Doug O’Brien, Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development and Judith Canales, Rural Business and Cooperatives Administrator, represented the USDA.

Following the White House ceremony, the owners of these manufacturing companies, who represented 30 states, and their lending partners, met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for lively discussion at the Secretary’s Dining Room at USDA headquarters.  Listed below are the names and location of the businesses honored.

Alabama:               AC. Inc. dba AC Fabricated Products and Mitternight Boiler Works, Inc.
Arkansas:              Bright Harvest Sweet Potato Company
Connecticut:        Strand Composite Engineering & Construction and ROL-VAC, LP
Delaware:              Flow Smart, Inc.
Florida:                  Aladdin Equipment Company and Wm. G. Roe and Sons, Inc.
Iowa:                       GMT Corporation
Kansas:                   Ferguson Production, Inc. and McKechnie Vehicle Components
Kentucky:              Stardust Cruisers
Louisiana:              GAME Equipment, LLC and Rogers Manufacturing Corporation
Maine:                     Whitney Wreath
Michigan:               Aztec Manufacturing Corporation
Minnesota:            Accessories Unlimited, LLC and Monogram Meat Snacks of Chandler
Mississippi:           JTB Furniture Manufacturing Company
Montana:               Lonesome Dove Concrete Pumping, LLC
Nebraska:              Allmand Brothers, Inc., Automatic Equipment Manufacturing Company, MetalQuest Unlimited Inc., and Thurston Manufacturing Company
Nevada:                   Las Vegas Rock, Inc.
New Hampshire:  Wilcox Industries
New York:              Orcon Industries Inc.
North Carolina:    Origin Food Group, LLC
North Dakota:       SolarBee, Inc.
Ohio:                         Centrex Plastics, LLC, Kettle Creations, LLC, and Norwalk Concrete

Industries
Oregon:                     ORPET LLC/Pacific PET LLC and Oregon Rug & Mattress, Inc.
Pennsylvania:        ASK Foods, Inc. and Unilife Corporation
South Carolina:     Nation Ford Chemical Company and Turnstyle Enterprises, Inc.
South Dakota:        Schiltz Foods, Inc.
Texas:                       Republic Plastics, LTD
Vermont:                Cellars at Jasper Hill
Virginia:                  Monogram Snacks Martinsville, LLC
Wisconsin:              Crystal Finishing System, Inc., Salm Partners, LLC, and Skana Aluminum

Company
Wyoming:               Gluten Free Oats, LLC

To find out more about USDA Business Programs click here.

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